How Many People Are Named Kenneth?
people named Kenneth are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 438 people in the US has this name
Based on 1,289,312 babies named Kenneth in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
⭐⭐ Common
Peak Year
28,145 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Anglicized form of both COINNEACH and CINÁED. This name was borne by the Scottish king Kenneth (Cináed) mac Alpin, who united the Scots and Picts in the 9th century. It was popularized outside of Scotland by Sir Walter Scott, who used it for the hero in his novel 'The Talisman' (1825). A famous bearer was the British novelist Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932), who wrote 'The Wind in the Willows'.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
Same Sound, Other Spellings
These names are pronounced like Kenneth in English. Counting Kenneth and these spellings together, about 786,844 people alive in the US have the name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Almost all of the babies given the name Kenneth (99.5%) were boys.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Kenneth alive today is about 57 years old, and 53% are 60 or older. Half of them were between 45 and 70 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Kenneth first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1957, to 28,145 babies. In 2025, 1,148 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Kenneth never made the top 10 boys' names. Its best rank was #13, in 1939, and it was in the top 100 for 104 years, 1898 to 2001. In 2025 it ranked #294.
| Boys | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #294 |
| Best rank | #13 (1939) |
| Years in the top 100 | 104 (1898 to 2001) |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #16 in the 1950s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Kenneth alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Kenneth were born in California than in any other state: about 65,984 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Kenneth was given 1.3 times as often in Alaska, 1.3 times in Wyoming and 1.2 times in North Dakota.
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